TTP Attacks Constitution of Pakistan

Posted by Aneela Shahzad
on January 21, 2015

Speaking to reporters on Feb 22nd, 2014, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the Taliban were aiming to resolve issues through talks whereas the government was more focused on establishing its writ and the supremacy of the Constitution, which he said did not have a single element reflecting Islamic injunctions. (Source)

He claimed that not a single clause in Pakistan’s Constitution was Islamic. (Source)

TTP spokesperson told the media that since it was the Government which had gone on the offensive; it should be the one moving for a ceasefire. The TTP was keen on the peace talks and resolving issues through dialogue whereas the government was keen on a Constitutional framework which did not reflect Islamic laws. (Source)

The irony is that, today, we will be addressing upon the matter of our Constitution, a bunch of renegades, none of whom may have the ability to even read the Constitution, let alone the ability or certificate to comment on it.

The Constitution of Pakistan, though not a perfect document, for the reason that no man-made written document can ever be perfect, nevertheless conforms perfectly with the Islamic belief system.

A national constitution is a set of basic principles and laws of a state that determine the powers and duties of the government and that guarantee certain rights to the people under it; meaning that it is a contract between the government and the people as to how they will be governed. The constitution can be as short or as long as it is made, depending upon the amount of details deemed necessary to be mentioned therein by the people constructing the document at that time. For example, the Indian Constitution has 444 articles, the US Constitution has only 7 articles and the UK does not have any written constitution at all. Therefore, if the government of Pakistan would produce a document saying that ‘it would govern the people and state of Pakistan according to Quran and Sunnah, following the Parliamentary way of a democratic setup, wherein sovereignty will belong to Allah, via His Book and the authenticated teachings of the prophet’, then so much said is enough to make it a contract of understanding between the two parties.

However, the Constitution of Pakistan has done much more than that. It defines the details of the working system of the Government, Legislature, Judiciary and the Armed Forces, and defines the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan. It includes in its principles of policy ‘the Islamic way of life’, ‘the teaching of Quran’ and ‘Islamic moral standards’. And it starts with the line saying that the ‘sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust’.

For practical purposes, the details of the document have been scrutinized by the Council of Islamic Ideology, in both the revisions of the Constitution – of 1962 and 1973. In both these events, the Council, a body of certified and seasoned religious figures, was called upon to scrutinize all the articles and clauses of the Constitution and to have them amended in accordance with Islam, wherever required. Since 1962, the Council has held 190 meetings, revised laws of Pakistan, recommended several legislations and submitted more than 90 Reports.

Compare all that work with a bunch of terrorists, hurled from different parts of the world, trained and brainwashed in makeshift camps, getting a training of six months or a few days; and compare that with the aalim or mufti, who is certified after a training of six to eight years, while yet more years are required for specialization.

Though one should admit the state of chaos with which the state is being run by various political parties in their given tenures, but that relates to the character and working of individuals and institutions that may not be abiding by the law and thereby creating many loopholes in the system. This weakness does not reflect disorder in the law of the country or its Constitution, which are two different things, but rather the lacking of a strong accountability system in the country. Moreover, there may still be several minor laws that may not have been laid under the guidelines of Islam, but they do not clash with our belief either. One should remember that it has taken decades and the work of many institutions to put in place our Constitution; and at no cost can such a pact, belonging to 180 million people, be handed over to a bunch of illiterate fanatics, who kill fellow humans in cold blood.

For all practical purposes, our current Constitution serves the purpose of our belief system, and if it is required to be improved or detailed, this can only be done through a large panel of specialists of the religion, such as can be catered under the Council of Islamic Ideology.

The sarcasm is that the TTP, being guilty of killing several thousands of Pakistani citizens, deems itself the upholder of the Shariah. They propagate their vicious theory of ‘takfeer’ with which they render themselves able to pass the verdict of infidelity upon any passerby, and pull the trigger on him/her. They also claim the ability to deem the whole nation of Pakistan, 180 million of them, as infidels, thereby legitimizing jehad against them.

Perhaps this is exactly what they plan to do by attacking the Constitution. Perhaps in their sway of undercover terrorism, they have become so strong with their criminality, that today they are able to falsefully consider themselves a legitimate entity, which should be negotiated with. The truth is that the weakness of our governments, our security institutions and our judiciary has allowed the cancerous disease of TTP to take ground all around the country. A group of terrorists who do not distinguish the receiving of funds and literature from the enemies of Pakistan as high treason and takfeer in itself, is liable to the severest punishment, exemplar of all times.

The peace-talks stood only as a means to save any single innocent life, if possible, from the blind fury of this vicious gang; but to assume these gangsters as a negotiable entity in itself will not be an act of sensibility on the part of our government, but rather a crime upon the sanctity and security of 180 million people.